Garment hanger



p 3,1957 J. COMFORT 2,805,013

GARMENT HANGER Filed April 19, 1955 INVENTOR. L/O hm Com for z A ttomvcys GARMENT HANGER John Comfort, St. Petersbnrg Beach, Fla. Application April 19, 1955, Serial No. 502,339

2 Claims. (Cl. 223-96) This invention relates to an improved hanger, especially but not exclusively for trousers.

Most usually, in the cases of trousers hangers the clamping means thereof are clampably engaged directly with the cuffs of the trousers legs, with the trousers being suspended in an inverted postion. This manner is undesirable, because the trousers may, by reason of their own weight or the failure of the clamping device to grip the cuffs securely, or by reason of an accidental force exerted upon the trousers, pull out of the clamp means. Further, the cuifs of trousers have, medially between the front and back creases of the trousers, transversely enlarged portions, in the form of seams which prevent the clamp means from gripping the trouser cuffs over sufiicient area, so that over long periods of usage, the clamping means impart an unseemly appearance to the cuifs of the trousers by wearing of the seams.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a generally improved trousers hanger arranged to engage the trouser legs beneath the culfs thereof, in such manner as to hold the trousers securely and in neat condition, the trousers-engaging portions of the hanger being provided with means affording clearance for the seams of the legs and of the cuffs so that a proper grip upon the trousers will be had fully from the front to the back creases.

A further object is to form the trousers hanger in such a manner as to facilitate the insertion or removal of the trousers with maximum ease and facility.

Still another object is to provide a hanger as stated which is permanently tensioned, by reason of the inherent springable nature thereof, whereby the tension is retained permanently, as distinguished from various other hangers which, because of the methods and materials of manufacture thereof, are mechanically tensioned andtend to lose their tension over a period of time.

Still another object is to so design the trousers hanger as to permit the same to grip two pairs of trousers in side-by-side relation, or one pair if desired.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claims appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views and wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational view of a garment hanger according to the present invention, a garment supported thereon being illustrated fragmentarily;

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the hanger with the trousers removed;

Figure 3 is an end elevational view of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged transverse sectional view on line 44 of Figure 1.

With continued reference to the drawing, the illustrated garment hanger is generally designated 10. The garment hanger comprises a clamping assembly 12 formed preferably of a single piece of material of inherently resilient nature, which may be a suitable plastic or other material suitable for the purpose. The garment clamping means 12 is in the form of an elongated, straight, thinnited States Patent 2 walled, inverted channel-shaped body 14 formed open at its opposite ends, and may be formed from a flat blank of sheet material bent into the cross sectional shape shown. The sides 13 of the body 14 terminate in laterally inwardly curved portions 15 which merge into depending, straight, relatively wide flanges 16 and 17 extending from end to end of the body. The flanges 16 and 17 are normally in face-to-face contact with each other when the garment holder is not in use, as shown in Figure 3, due to the inherent resilience of the body 14. However, the flanges can be spread apart against the resilience of the body 14 for the insertion therebetween of a garment to be held thereby. A garment may be a'pairof trousers whose legs the flanges engage beneath the cuffs, or a skirt whose body the flanges engage beneath its hem portion.

At their opposite ends, the flanges 16 and 17 are formed with laterally outwardly bent lips 18 and 19, respectively, which are in divergent relation to each other at the ends of the body 14 to provide flared inlet passages opening into the space between the flanges 16 and 17 when a garment is being inserted in the body 14. Thus, the insertion of the garment is facilitated, since the inlet passages 21, defined between the lips 18 and 19 at opposite ends of the flanges 16 and 17, are sutficiently wide to accommodate the combined thicknesses of the trouser legs or of a skirt folded upon itself. After the garment has been inserted through one of the inlet passages 21, movement of the garment longitudinally of the body will cause the garment to spread the flanges 16 and 17 against the restraint or resilience of the resilient body 14.

Insertion of a garment in a passage spreads the flanges 16 and 17 apart a distance suflicient to permit free insertion of the cuffs or the hem portion of the garment within the body 14, as shown in Figure 4, so that there is no gripping action against the legs or hem portion, but gripping act-ion is exerted upon the legs or body of the garment by the clamping flanges 16 and 17.

Formed in the flanges 16 and 17 medially between the opposite ends thereof are vertically extending, outwardly struck portions 20 defining grooves disposed in opposition for the accommodation of the seams of the legs or body of the garment.

In the case of a pair of trousers, the side seams of the trousers legs will be received in the grooves 20 which provide clearance for the seams so that the seams will not bear the full clamping action of the flanges 16 and 17 and the clamping action will be exerted against the trouser legs fully from the front to the back creases thereof with uniform pressure. In the case of a Womans skirt, the same will hold true with respect to the seams provided in the Waistband thereof, Where the waistband is enclosed within the body 14 and the body of the skirt is gripped in a smooth fashion by the flanges 16 and 17.

This holding action of the device with respect to a skirt is equally effective whether the skirt be inserted in an unfolded condition or is folded upon itself. In the event that it is desired to have the hanger specifically designed for accommodating unfolded skirts, it is merely necessary to make the body 14and the flanges 16 and 1'7, correspondingly longer to accommodate the greater width skirts.

As shown in the drawings, a pair of trousers 24 has cuffs 26 on legs 28, the cuffs being disposed Within the body 14 While the flanges 16 and 17 clamp therebetween the legs beneath the cuffs, as clearly shown in Figure 4.

Suspension means, generally designated 30, is provided for the purpose of suspending the garment hanger 10 from a suitable support. The means 30 comprises a gem erally U-shaped bracket 32 having its opposite legs disposed outwardly of the sides of the body 14 and secured i i K i 3 thereto at a mid-point location intermediate the ends of the body, with the bight portion of the bracket in vertically spaced concentric relation above the upper surface of the body, remote from the flanges 16 and 17. A hook 34 has its lower straight shank portion 36 passing through a suitably formed aperture in the bight portion of the bracket and provided with a stop element 38, which may be a nut or Washer, to prevent the hook 34 from being accidentally removed from the bracket.

While there is shown and described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the structure is susceptible to change and modification within the practicability of the invention and therefore should be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

-What is claimed is:

a 1. In a. garment hanger, a resilient inverted channel shaped body having sides terminating in laterally inwardly directed portions merging into depending relatively wide clamping flanges extending the length of the body, the sides or" the body being spaced from each other at a distance sufiicient to receive therebetween the cuffs of a trousers in unclarnped condition, said clamping flanges being flat substantially throughout their length and Width and having facing sides normally engaged with each other in an unspread condition of the body, the flanges being arranged to be spread apart to receive therebetween and clamp 'therebetween the legs of trousers whose cufls are positioned above the flanges and within said body, and

means secured to the body for suspending the hanger from a support.

2. In a garment hanger, a resilient inverted channel shaped body having sides terminating in laterally inwardly directed portions merging into depending relatively wide clamping flanges extending the length of the body, the sides ot the body being spaced from each other at a distance sufficient to receive therebetween the cuffs of a trousers in unclamped condition, said clamping flanges being flat substantially throughout their length and Width and having facing sides normally engaged with each other in an unspread condition of the body, the flanges being arranged to be spread apart to' receive therebetween and clamp therebetween the legs of trousers whose cuffs are positioned above the flanges and Within said body, and means secured to the body for suspending the hanger from a support, said facing sides. of the clamping flanges being provided with vertical grooves located intermediate the ends of the flanges for receiving seams on the legs of trousers clamped between the flanges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 789,180 Spruce May 9, 1905 1,474,102 Ashmore Nov. 13, 1923 2,424,048 Pankowski July 15, 1947 

